Yesterday we visited The Mission of Nombre de Dios which traces its origins to the founding of America’s oldest city, in 1565. On September 8, 1565, Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed and proclaimed this site for Spain and the Church. It was on these grounds that Fr. Lopez would celebrate the first parish Mass and begin the work at America’s first Mission. The statue I painted is St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the ecology.
I used acrylics on this 8x10" board and my palette consisted of 4 colors. Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Indian Yellow, and Cad Yellow Light and of course white. The photo below shows the painting partially blocked in. The values were all close so I would have to rely on the nice highlights that rimmed around the back of the figure to bring it to life. The hedge in the foreground was a cool green in reality but I warmed it from what it actually was because I wanted to bring it forward so it would not recede into the background where it might get lost among the other greenery.
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The painting was finished by adding more negative
areas in the trees and adding the lake in the background which gave it a
nice touch of additional color from the otherwise warm late afternoon
glow.
